Dirty engine
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Dirty engine
Wanted to know if it was safe to use an engine cleaner and spray with water to clean my engine on a "81", has anyone ever attempted this and what precautions did you take to protect the important parts, etc?
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,076
Likes: 281
From: Dyersburg TN
electrical things do not usually like water. Also make sure you cover the carb. Water does not do well inside the engine. You also don't want to have the spray blow cleaner or grease out of the engine compartment and on to the paint.
Plastic bags make good covers. You might want to cover the car with drop cloth to prevent splashing of chemicals.
Plastic bags make good covers. You might want to cover the car with drop cloth to prevent splashing of chemicals.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,060
Likes: 46
From: winter haven florida
St. Jude Donor '12
just cover the distributer and intake. you should be fine. i cleaned mine many times like that with no problems. just follow the directions on the can and you will be fine.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,485
Likes: 7
From: Peekskill NY
Simple Green with a damp cloth works great. Get as much heavy gunk off as you can before hand. Get a plastic taping spatula from home depot to scrape with with out scraping off the paint. Some guys like to have it steam cleaned if it's really bad.
Glenn
Glenn
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,148
Likes: 5
From: South Dakota
If you are going to steam clean it, I would take the air cleaner off and use a heavy plastic (like 4 mil) and cover the carb completely and tie a wire around the base of the carb. Do the same with the distributor and coil. Do not direct the spray at hoses, wire looms, plug wires or fan belts. This would be a good time to pull the plug wires for replacement and replace the plugs after cleaning. Then I would use compressed air and blow dry the engine compartment before removing the plastic and replacing the spark plugs. It would be a good idea to cover your fenders, windshield and top too. Any grease will fly in all different directions and end up on your car, garage walls, or anything around you for 20-30 feet. After that, I take some WD-40 and spray and blow dry the spark plug wires on both ends before trying to start. take apart any electrical connectors that got sprayed and do them with WD-40 and compressed air also. Do around the spark plugs too. I don't spray the alternator. Also be careful of the radiator. I've seen radiator fins bent over because of getting too close with the high pressure water.
Last edited by builder; Jul 23, 2010 at 03:54 PM.
